


We Are Family ( One Shots )

by BarnaboysWilloughby (SheriffsLop)



Category: The Willoughbys (2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bullying, Canon Compliant, Childbirth, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Cute Kids, Easter, Easter Eggs, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Jane Willoughby Is A Good Sister, Little Writer Prompts, Mall Outing, Momma! Jane, Multi, Nanny is a good mom, One Shot Collection, Other, Party, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Dates, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Poppa! Tim, Poppa! Tim getting what he deserves, School Dances, Shopping Malls, Sibling Fluff, Tags change over time !!, Tim Willoughby is a good brother, Valentine's Day, Winter, diaries, failed proposals, kid drama, kids being kids, platonic coparenting, prompts, quiet nights, siblings sticking up for eachother, snapshot, squish, the kids have friends !!, twin friends !!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:46:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29016054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheriffsLop/pseuds/BarnaboysWilloughby
Summary: ❇ || Credit to this prompt goes to an0mally !! 🥰❤✨🎀
Relationships: Barnaby A Willoughby & Barnaby B Willoughby & Jane Willoughby & Tim Willoughby, Barnaby A. Willoughby & Barnaby B. Willoughby, Jane Willoughby & Tim Willoughby, Linda | Nanny & Jane Willoughby, Linda | Nanny & The Kids, The Willoughby Siblings, Tim Willoughby/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Country Roads, Take Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> ❇ || Credit to this prompt goes to an0mally !! 🥰❤✨🎀

“ **_ Country roads, take me  _ ** **_ home  _ ** . . .”

Tim stepped off the ladder of the dirigible before he saw that he must’ve attracted a lot of attention with the brightly colored, candy wrapper balloon, but he couldn’t stay up much longer. First it was figuring out how to drive the thing, and then it was making sure no bird beaks popped the wrappers  ( or else they’d be done  for ) . He’d had to stop and listen because halfway between the factory and  Sveetzerlund , the twins needed to use the bathroom, they needed to refill on sugar, and Jane was hungry  ( she picked a huge back of puffy,  orange colored chips called ‘Cheese - Os’ that she shared with everyone in the  van ) .

They were in a new place that was totally unfamiliar, he thinks the place is called ‘Ithica’, but he wasn’t exactly sure, he’d only seen one poster since he’d entered civilization. He felt his pocket to check and see if the ten dollars he had taken from Nanny’s purse was still in the pocket of his shorts. Thankfully, it was.

He made his way to the coffee shop, before he took his head protector off his head and held it to his chest. It was a bit . . . nerve wracking in his opinion. 

The warm air of the inside wrapped around him like an embrace. His eyes looked around to see the grey, concrete floors had different things sprayed and drawn on the surface by tons of different artists and they ranged from “Peace and Love on Earth” surrounding a peace sign, to “Raise Anarchy” consumed by flames and what seemed to be little devils coming out of the fires. The walls were yellow, and the lights were dimmed to the point of being honey colored. There was a man playing guitar in the corner - a soft tune that people gathered around with their various drinks and listened to.

He was seeing so many different kinds of people – there were men with hair that covered their bodies werewolves, and women with their heads completely shaved ( which Tim didn’t think was the most . . . ladylike hairstyle, but he was used to the intricate updos he saw on the Willoughby women of the past and Mother, or the thick pinkish – red locks that almost swept the floor like  Jane’s ) . There were people with nose piercings and people wearing shiny latex jackets, black eyeshadows, blue eyeshadows, men in makeup, women in ripped jeans  ( another thing he didn’t quite  understand ) .

He bit his lower lip before he led himself to the back of the line. He continued to look around at all of the people in the coffee shop, before the two women in front of him. One was big, dark, with pink ribbons in her long braids and a dress with rabbits on the pink pattern, and a skinnier, caramel – y colored woman with shaved blue hair, piercings all in her face, and a shiny, black leather jacket.

“Look boo !!” the bigger woman exclaimed. “They have chocolate covered  strawberries !! Can we get some,  _ pleeease _ __ ?”

“Of course, babe,” the tanned woman answered.

“Yay !!” the bigger woman exclaimed.

She got up from looking at the window of chocolate covered strawberries and other little goodies, before she turned to the other girl and pulled her into a kiss.

He furrowed his eyebrows before he had a quick realization.

“Oh,” he whispered to himself.

They were in love.

Well, he did read about his great aunts and uncles that had been in love with other men and women, while they were men and women, and some of them lived with someone who was the same as them for the rest of their lives. There  was other cases, such as his great uncle Edmund and his great aunt Jubilee, who lived together for the rest of their lives, with kids, even though they weren’t married  ( but she was his sister, and he couldn’t imagine living the rest of his life with Jane, and he didn’t think that they . . .  _ could  _ ? ).

He followed the line forward, before he was stopped in front of the dessert window. There  wee little prices on the cards in front of him, before he looked up to see a chalkboard that had all the drinks on the menu. The prettier drinks, like “Pumpkin Spice Latte” and “Vanilla Bean Frappuccino” were super expensive, at ten dollars total, and some were even higher. He then looked in the dessert window, before he saw a red velvet cupcake at seven dollars, and a black coffee at four.

Maybe he could . . . it wasn’t a bad idea.

He continued up the line, before he reached the counter, where a man with pictures all over his arms, long, curly hair tied in a ponytail, and a green apron gave him a smile, before he held up a notepad.

“Hi, welcome to  Sugarcube’s ,” he greeted. “What are you wanting today ?”

“A red velvet cupcake and a black coffee,” Tim answered.

“Ah, gettin' something for your dad, little  man ? ” the man asked him.

“Uh, yes,” Tim lied.

He had a feeling that he shouldn’t tell this guy that he was the weirdo in the giant blimp outside  ( that people surprisingly weren’t gathered at the window, staring  at ) , and that there were no adults around to stop them from rescuing their actual parents from  Sveetzerlund .

“Right on,” the man encouraged. “It’s pretty rad to see kids  doin ’ nice things for their parents still. Brings hope into the world, you know ?”

“Sure,” Tim answered.

He was more focused on the pictures on the guy’s arms – a hand of cards, a coffee cup, a picture of a dog, an arrow, “Music is my life”. He’d never seen someone with pictures on them before. Did this guy draw them on his skin everyday, or are they something you can’t scrub off.

“Little  man ? ” the guy questioned.

“ Yes ? ” Tim answered.

“Can I get a name for the  cup ? ” the man asked.

“Tim,” he answered.

“Radical,” the man commented. “And you wanted a red velvet cupcake ?”

“Please,” Tim confirmed.

“I’m on it,” the man answered.

Tim watched as he walked to the dessert window and took the cupcake out before he sealed it in a yellow box. He came back and set it onto the counter and typed into the cash register, before it rang.

“Ten dollars, little man,” the guy said.

Tim took the money from his pocket and he put it on the counter, before the guy took the money from him and put it in the cash register.

“Right on, little man,” the guy said. “You can go and chill out over by the guitar. Kevin  Lovetrip is a pretty radical artist, really good vibe music. I’ll call you when your drink’s ready.”

He nodded before he took the small box and took a seat in one of the stools before he watched the big, hairy man play his guitar and sing to the crowd of people. His voice was smooth and mellow, very unlike the sound of the men on the records that his parents would play  ( he did like the orchestral  records ) . He didn’t know what ‘vibe music’ was, but this was nice. He swung his feet under the stool and  listend to two songs, before he heard his name called from the counter.

He took the cupcake before got his drink from the counter and made his way outside the door. He sipped the coffee before he scrunched his nose at the bitterness . . . but it wasn’t too bad. It was warm, and unlike anything else he’d ever had before. It was new, and that could be a good thing.

He bit the cup in his teeth, before he carried his cup and the cupcake up to the top of the dirigible.

He opened the door to the van before he noticed that Jane had taken Nanny’s phone off the lollipop stick and now had it on her hands.

The sound of loud, upbeat music and cat meowing came from the phone before he looked to the back to see both twins, as they hugged the bluish – grey tabby cat that seemed to follow them everywhere.

“What are you doing ?” he asked.

“Nanny had this game on her phone,” Jane explained. “Techno Cat Jetpack Adventure.”

“Weird,” he commented.

He put his hand towards the vents in the car.

“Were you  warm ? ” he asked.

“I’m not cold,” she claimed.

“Good,” he affirmed. “I got you something.”

He handed her the yellow box, before she put the phone down and opened the box. She gave an excited gasp and giggle at the sight of the dark red cupcake with white, creamy icing.

“Tim !!” she exclaimed. “What’s this ?”

“A cupcake,” he said. “I - I saw it in there and I . . . you’re hungry, aren’t you ?”

“Starving,” she agreed.

She took the cupcake out of the box, before she started to lick the icing off and took bites out of the red cupcake, giving happy hums as she ate the cake.

He started the van up and rose their dirigible before they were back in the sky. She finished the cupcake and folded the box to hide it in the glove box so the twins didn’t ask where they had stopped for more food, before they complained that they were also hungry for a cupcake and there was no turning back.

He continued to sip the coffee, though his eyes felt heavy as he watched the sky. He ignored Jane as she yawned, and the only thing that made him notice her was when she leaned from off the window and onto his shoulder. He attempted to push her back, so he could keep driving, but then she was right back onto his side and he caught her to avoid her hitting her head on the car. He pat her head and sighed quietly as she slept against him.

He then thought about how . . . he wouldn’t mind being around Jane forever, though he didn’t admit it out loud, because he couldn’t let her in on his unmasculine emotions. He didn’t mind the days where she was dancing in the halls, and singing about how the sun rose in the morning, or how rain clouds gathered outside their windows. He’d spend many more days in that awful house with her, than he ever could bare in the Walters, the  Waddingtons , or any other family.

Maybe home wasn’t a place, but a person, and he knew that he’d always be home around his siblings.

The feeling of his sister under his cheek was enough to confirm that in his mind.

He felt his eyes start to fall shut, and for some  reason . . . he didn’t realize that he wasn’t driving the van anymore.

“ **_ To the place, I belong _ ** . . .”

- **_ “Country Roads, Take Me Home”, John Denver _ **


	2. Stolen Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❇ || Credit goes to tiggertape for the prompt !!

“ **_I want_ ** **_you,_ ** **_we can bring it to the floor . . ._ **” 

It was spring time and Nanny had invited a few parents from Promise Elementary School ( where the Barnabys and Jane went ) and Fortuna Middle School ( where Tim went ) over to the house for Easter, and the kids can bond with some of their new friends from school like Annie King, Cate Baker, Elijah Wright, Tabbie Wright, and a few girls from the P.T.A moms that Linda surprisingly got along with, like Ann Schafter ( with her cute, little angel Melissa ). 

“Okay, while us ladies are inside, setting up the food for everyone, there’s a lot of activities outside, like egg painting and bean bag tosses,” Linda instructed. “We’ll be watching from the window, have fun, kids !!” 

“Come on, Tim !! “ Annie exclaimed. “Let’s go and paint some eggs for the easter egg hunt !!” 

“Yeah, we should have a contest for who makes the best eggs !!” Cate agreed. 

“I will destroy you two in this competition,” Tim declared, with a smile. 

“Oh, using metaphors now, are we, Willoughby ?” Annie asked. 

“He learned from the best, Annie,” Cate insisted. 

The middle school kids went outside to the picnic table before they sat down and took eggs from the giant basket, before they took paintbrushes and paper plates ( with cute rabbit designs ), before they ejected different acrylic paints onto the plates, so they could start painting eggs. 

\--- 

“Barnabys, let’s do the bean bag toss !!” Tabbie exclaimed. “I want B. on my team.” 

“But he’s my best friend !!” Elijah claimed. 

“Tough luck,” Tabbie teased. 

The twins looked at eachother in a confused realization – the Wright twins thought that the Barnabys were their best friends. They’d never heard that before, because most kids thought that they were weird, and rarely wanted to be seen together, or else they were picked on – Elijah and Tabbie never seemed to care about that, but they never would’ve thought that the Wright twins thought that they were their best friends. 

“Me ?” B. questioned. 

“Yeah !!” Tabbie exclaimed. “When I watch you guys play kickball at recess, you throw the ball super hard and your team never loses.” 

“But, Tabbie, he’s _my_ best friend !!” Elijah exclaimed. 

She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. 

“Fine,” Elijah scoffed. “A., you’re on my team, let’s kick those losers’ butts !!” 

“No, you’re a loser !!” Tabbie exclaimed. 

The pairs of twins went to the bean bag toss, before they paired off onto each little bean bag toss. 

“Elijah, if we win, am I still your best friend ?” B. asked. 

Elijah smiled and nodded. 

“It’s called a ‘friendly comemepetion’,” Tabbie reassured. 

“It’s ‘competition’, Tabbie,” Elijah corrected. 

“Shut up, you know I have a lisp !!” she exclaimed. 

Elijah snickered before he tossed the first bean bag over in the direction of their bean bag slot. 

\--- 

Jane simply sat on the swing that was in the elaborate playground that was in the backyard of Melanoff’s. He had it installed after the kids had moved in, and it had nearly everything a kid could ask for. A dual swing for the Barnabys, a sandbox for Ruth, a little clubhouse for Tim and Jane to share, slides for the kids to go down, access to an apple tree from the club house. It was a kid’s paradise. 

“Well, well, well, look at who we have here,” Melissa commented. 

Two of her friends joined alongside her, with their hands on their hips and smirks on their faces. Chloe and Zoey ( Jane couldn’t tell which one was which, even though they had different families – they looked the exact same, weirdly enough ). 

“Bird - nose,” One of the friends taunted. 

“Beak - face,” the other one added. 

Jane cringed lightly at the insult. She loved being at home, because that meant she could get _away_ from Melissa, Chloe, and Zoey’s harsh words for a few hours, but now they were in her _backyard_ , her _safe_ space. 

“What do you want, Melissa ?” she sighed. 

“We’re going up in your treehouse,” Melissa announced. “And we’ll tell if you tell us we can’t.” 

Jane bit her lips together before she looked at the ground, as she came to the realization that she still couldn’t defend herself against Melissa and her friends, even when she was at home. It was like there was no escape from these girl’s constant torment. 

“Fine,” Jane sighed. 

“Good,” Melissa confirmed. “Come on girls, let’s go.” 

Melissa went to the ladder before she climbed inside the treehouse and the two other girls followed behind her, all of them laughing and giggling as they went inside the treehouse. 

\--- 

“Your sister looks lonely,” Annie commented. “Maybe we should get her to come and paint eggs with us, and besides, we have enough jelly toast to share !!” 

“I thought she would’ve liked playing with Missus Schafter’s kid and her friends,” Cate commented. “Aren’t they all in the same class ?” 

“Yeah,” Tim answered. “She doesn’t seem to be having a lot of fun . . . I’ll go talk to her.” 

He got up from the table and walked over to the swings before he crossed his arms at his sister, that sulked on one of the few swings that was hooked up to their playground. 

“You want to come and paint eggs with us ?” he asked. “It doesn’t look like you’re getting along with Missus Schafter’s daughter.” 

Jane got up from the swing before she followed Tim back to the picnic table, and she sat next to him, before she gathered the supplies to start painting a few eggs. After eating a bit of jelly toast, and talking about the designs everyone was putting on their eggs, Jane found herself smiling, laughing, and leaning onto Tim’s shoulder. Then the sound of Melissa’s voice sent cold chills down her spine before she shot back up at her words. 

“Nanny let Tim and I go to the mall _alone_ together today !!” Melissa read. “He took me to the ice cream parlor and we got a banana split to _share_!!” 

“Ooo !!” both of her friends chorused. 

He turned to see the pastel pink journal, plastered with designs of cats, bells, and bows in Melissa’s hands. 

“My diary !!” Jane exclaimed. 

“ _I really like being around him_ !!” Melissa snorted. “ _He’s the only person I want to be around_ _sometimes_ !! Wow, it sounds like Jane’s _in love_ with her brother !!” 

“Stop it !!” Jane cried. 

“Hey, that’s not cool !!” Cate defended. 

“Yeah, cut it out !!” Annie scolded. 

Jane backed away from Tim, her bottom lip trembling, before her face heated with a blush that matched his, before she got off the picnic table and ran back towards the house to hide out in the bathroom. 

“Jane !!” he exclaimed. 

He got up from the picnic table before he ran inside after her to comfort her. 

“Jane and Tim, sitting in a tree, k - i – s – s - i – n g !!” Chloe and Zoey chanted, with Melissa laughing alongside them. 

“What are you doing with my sister’s diary ?” A. asked. “Those are her private thought. Mommy said -” 

“Who cares ?” Melissa groaned. “What are you going to do about it, twerp ?” 

The twin’s eyes widened at the way the word ‘twerp’ seethed with a hateful venom, before something inside of him had snapped. 

“So, then I told Roger, ‘No, a diva cup goes on the inside’,” Monica laughed, along with the other women in the kitchen. 

“Ouch !! Get off of me, you psycho !!” 

All the moms’ heads perked at the sound of Melissa, shrieking outside the French doors that lead to the backyard, before Miss Schafter and Nanny both ran outside to see what was going on. They were greeted by the Wright twins and B. huddled over A., who had pinned Melissa to the ground with Jane’s diary in her hand. 

“A. !!” Nanny exclaimed. “Get off of her !!” 

“She stole Jane’s diary and read it !!” A. shouted. 

“Melissa !!” her mother scolded. 

The two moms went and separated the two kids, before Nanny took the diary from Melissa and held A. under her arm like a suitcase. 

“She did, Missus Melanoff !!” Elijah confirmed. “She was reading it to everyone.” 

Nanny simply sighed, before she took A. back into the stairwell, while Missus Schafter stayed outside and scolded Melissa, Chloe, and Zoey in front of everyone, with all three girls not being able to defend themselves with no other tactic than losing ‘Yes, m’am’s. 

\--- 

Nanny sat A. down on the stairwell, before she put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile and a light shoulder squeeze. 

“Hey mushroom head, I’m proud of you for sticking up for your sister,” she praised. “But I still think hitting a girl deserves ten minutes in time out.” 

The twin scowled for a moment, before he sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“Yes, mommy,” he groaned. 

She rustled his hair, before she walked up the stairs and down the hallway to Jane’s room, where she opened the white door to see Jane, on her bed, with Tim’s hand on her shoulder as she cried. 

“Hey, tiny girlfriend,” she soothed. “I got your diary back. I know that must’ve been embarrassing for you. I would’ve been pretty embarrassed too.” 

“I - I didn’t mean to leave it in there,” Jane managed. 

“I know you didn’t !!” Nanny comforted. “You’re just lucky you have brothers that would pull a girl’s hair to get it back.” 

“ **_Never danced like this before. We don’t talk about it . . ._ **” 

- **_“_ ** **_Stolen Dance”, Milky Chance_ **


	3. She Will Be Loved

“ **_ Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay  _ ** **_ awhile . _ ** **_ . . _ ** ”

She didn’t like hugs much anymore, she flinched at the feeling of another person’s touch, she hated the thought of someone else’s arms around her. She couldn’t tell why, because when they were first all adopted, she loved them. She loved being picked up and being swung around in the air by  Melanoff , and the sound of the candy metals tapping together. She loved the soft, squishy marshmallow hugs from Nanny, and the feeling of her pink corduroy overalls. Soon, she loved hugs from everyone, but she was thirteen now, and for some  reason . . . . she didn’t like them anymore.

He was quite the opposite. It took him awhile to get used to the affections and he’d only stay for a good minute in one before he felt uncomfortable with them. He rarely accepted them from other men in the family  ( the Barnabys included, even though they both liked hugs and the warm feelings they  brought ) , due to wanting to be a masculine man. He wanted his mustache, and he felt like being affectionate was going to get in the way of that. Once he hit fourteen, however, he realized that . . . it simply wasn’t coming, and while the old him would’ve panicked and thought he failed his family legacy, this him . . . this him felt  _ relieved _ . It was like a blank upper lip was a blank slate for him. A legacy of his own to build, and that meant, he could be the him that he had wanted – affectionate, kind, compassionate, caring, gentle.

He went downstairs to the kitchen to see that the lamp in the kitchen was on, so that meant someone in the house was awake. He assumed it was the twins, trying to get a bit of their  late night building in, or Nanny, doing a game of sudoku when it was quiet in the house. He hid back around the corner of the wall, as he saw Jane, with her face down on the table. Then he heard the soft sniffles and cries.

He wasn’t exactly the best at this whole comforting thing – he didn’t know how fast to rush into it, what was too fast, what exactly she needed. He had a feeling he should go back upstairs . . . but he couldn’t just leave her there to cry. It didn’t feel right.

He walked into the kitchen instead of the dining room, where he grabbed a cup from the cupboard and went to the refrigerator and filled the cup with ice and water, before he cleared his throat. He rolled open the sliding door that separated the kitchen from the dining room.

“ Oh ? You’re awake,” he mentioned, acting like he hadn’t watched her crying.

She wiped her face clean of tears, before she nodded and took the mug of what seemed to be warm milk in her hands and sipped. She tried to act like she wasn’t just crying, because she didn’t want to talk about it. She never did. She just wanted it all to be over. Sure, Melissa moved away their  fifth grade year, and her two stooges went to another middle school, but soon Chloe, Zoey, and Melissa were replaced by other, even  _ meaner  _ girls that made her feel  _ worse  _ about herself. It seemed like nothing she ever did was right.

She got made fun of for writing in a diary, she got made fun of because she thought her older brother was her best friend, she got made fun of because she wasn’t wearing the cool clothes that the other girls were wearing, but Nanny would not let her be caught dead in some of those outfits and she wasn’t allowed to wear more than flavored  lipgloss , unlike the other girls. It seemed like she’d never fit in the way she wanted to, and the fact that she had to shave her mustache every single day only reminded her how much she stuck out.

“Yeah,” she answered. “Are you still studying for that U.S History test ?”

“ Mh , yeah,” he answered. “Mister Parker says we’ll find all the answers on the test in our books, but it’s hard when the study guide’s so . . .  _ vague _ .”

“That sucks,” she said.

“That’s high school for you,” he joked. “But, hey, Nanny said that you got your advanced testing scores back – if you want, you can skip eighth grade and be a Freshman next year !!”

“Maybe I might,” she sighed. “It’s not like middle school has anything for me anyways.”

“Aren’t you going to miss anything about  Fortuna ? ” he asked.

She was quiet as she thought of a way to answer his question without sounding super lame.

“I’ll miss the library,” she said. “Missus Tracy lets me eat lunch in there sometimes, and she lets me know what new books arrived at the library so I can get them first.”

“The library ?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she insisted. “I - It’s cool in  there !! She has those owl posters, and sometimes I get to watch the book fair  fet set up and -”

“But, what about your friends ?” he pressed. “Don’t you have those ?”

She was quiet as she sipped on her milk.

“Missus Tracy . . .” she muttered.

“The  librarian ? ” he asked.

“Who else would I be talking about ?” she asked.

“Girls your own  age ? ” he teased. “Not fifty year old women who spend their weekends, knitting scarfs and wool boots for her six cats.”

“I . . . I don’t get along with girls my age,” she claimed. “We’re different.”

“What about the girls in your choir class ?” he asked. “Those girls love to sing, there’s something you have in common with them.”

“It’s not that easy !!” she exclaimed.

“Sure, it is -” he insisted.

“No, it’s not !!” she snapped.

That’s when the tears came back and she flopped back onto the table and started crying again. She hid her face behind her pajama shirt and her cries were muffled by the wooden table once again.

He quickly reached a hand forward, before he stopped himself so he didn’t touch her so suddenly. He then made his fingers gentler as he caressed her back and allowed her to cry it out before she sat back up and wiped her face again. 

Her body shifted away from his hand, as if to get away from his touch, which was something the family  unfortunately had gotten used to by this point. She sighed and shook her head before she reached for her glasses that she had on the table and put them back on. Her nose was stuffed from the amount of crying she’d done that night, and her eyes were swollen, puffy, and a peachy red.

“Ugh, I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she lied. “It’s so dumb.”

“It’s not dumb, it bothers you,” Tim soothed. “If it was dumb, you wouldn’t be crying because of it.”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better -” she said.

“I’m not lying, Jane,” he reassured.

“Since when did you ever see crying as a good thing ?” she asked. “You always used to say that crying was childish and  Willoughbys don’t cry.”

“I’ve learned a thing or two over the years,” he chuckled. “Crying’s the body’s way of saying you aren’t getting treated right, and it’s okay, because it’s your body’s way of telling you that you need to be treated better.”

“I really hate feeling like this . . .” she commented.

“I don’t think anybody likes crying,” he teased.

“No, I mean . . .” she shook her head. “Like  _ this _ .”

“I promise, it gets better,” he encouraged.

“ When ? ” she asked.

“Eventually,” he answered. “It might get better tomorrow, it might get better a week from now – but it will, the fun part is knowing that every day you get through, you’re a day closer to better days.”

“ _ Ugh _ ,  **_ thanks  _ ** **_ Linda _ ** ,” Jane groaned.

“She has a point, Jane,” he laughed. “ But, we’ll be here for you until those great days come. We’ll try to make these days just a little better to help you feel better for the time being.”

“ Really ? ” she asked.

“We’ll try,” he confirmed.

She sniffed and managed to smile, before she took her cup and sipped, leaning onto his shoulder.

The next move he did was risky, but he did it anyway. He grabbed her by the hips and shifted her onto his lap completely. He braced himself for a slap in the face or a punch in the chest, but he was simply greeted with a pleasant sigh and her head on his shoulder as she relaxed in his grip.

He lifted his hand and ran his fingers through her hair as she continued to sit in his lap and drink her milk in this very peaceful, cricket chirping, light rain against the windows quiet. It was peaceful, full of bliss, even though it was as quiet as it was, and normally was pretty noisy in the house, considering that everyone always seemed to be doing something when it came to the day.

This was a chosen quiet, not a forced quiet, which was probably what made it so nice. They had the option to make a bit of noise, but still, neither sibling did.

They said nothing, but this was what they both needed – cuddles, quiet, something to drink, and someone to be there. Luckily, in this house, they’re never alone, but unlike their old house, they weren’t forced to be around  eachother all the time. It seemed to make their relationships among the family stronger in a way. Back at the old house, Tim hated being around Jane and the twins, but now . . . she was sitting on his lap, snuggling him.

The old him would’ve hated this.

This him wouldn’t have it any other way.

“ **_ And she will be loved. She will be loved . . . _ ** ”

- **_ “ _ ** **_ She Will Be Loved”, Maroon 5 _ **


	4. Stand By You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❇ || Credit to Pandafish !!

“ **_ Even if we can’t find  _ ** **_ heaven; _ ** **_ I’ll walk through hell with you . . . _ ** ”

“Okay, you kids have fun !!” Nanny exclaimed from the S.U.V. “Remember, meet me back here at six thirty so you can be home for dinner.”

Both Tim and Jane exited the S.U.V, where the twins sat in the very back as they sorted through the various Valentine’s Day cards they had gotten from their classmates  ( and the little stuffed animals that Tabbie and Elijah had gotten them. Tabbie had gotten A. a stuffed elephant that was wearing a shirt with the caption ‘ Hugs ? ” and Elijah had gotten B. a stuffed leopard that was holding a ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’  heart ) , and Ruth was chewing on a heart shaped lollipop.

“Okay, we’ll see you later,” Tim called.

The car door shut and Tim held out his arm for Jane to link with him, and she did before she giggled.

“Last year, you would’ve been linked like this with Diane Attaway,” she mentioned.

He bit his cheek at the reminder of Diane. She was cool, like,  _ really  _ cool, but according to her – she had eyes for Lola Montoya and not Tim, and it took dating him for a few days to realize that she didn’t really . . .  _ like guys _ . He wasn’t going to whine and stop her, especially if she liked girls – that would just be  _ mean _ , but he was pretty hung up about  it for a good month.

“Well, this year, I’m not,” he reminded. “So where to  first ? Anywhere  specific ? The  arcade ? PrincessCorner ?  Gnocchi's ? Sweet Rose ?”

“ Mmh , I don’t know,” Jane said. “Maybe we should walk around and see what there is to do.”

“Well, whatever you want,” he insisted. “I brought my pay from running the concession stand at our basketball games for the last month, so I have enough money to do almost anything.”

“They pay you to run the concession stand ?” Jane asked.

“Well, it’s a job only for eighth graders,” he explained. “But yeah, every time you help run concessions, they pay you about thirteen bucks and give you a little extra credit in Phys.  Ed. , and I like doing the job – it gets me out of the house on Fridays.”

“Why don’t you like being at home for movie night ?” she pouted.

“Because we always watch those superhero action movies that you and Nanny like, or the cartoons that Ruth and the twins like,” he said. “I want to watch something nicer, like a dog movie.”

“Sappy,” Jane teased.

“Whatever,” he laughed.

They entered the front of the mall to see that most of the stores had displays set up with hearts, two in one deals, pink clouds, cutesy imagery, and pop music seemed to lull from every shop. They walked arm in arm to the map, before they looked at the stores. She gasped and smiled at the sight of one store.

“Tim, we should go to Urbana !!” she exclaimed.

“The store where Nanny and her mom friends get makeup  from ? ” Tim asked. “But Nanny said you can’t wear makeup.”

“But she’s not here,” Jane pointed out. “Besides, what’s a little bit of lipstick and eyeshadow going to do to  me ? It’s not hurting anyone, and it’s Valentine’s day – it's a special occasion.”

“You better be right about this,” Tim groaned. “I don’t want to be the one getting in trouble because I let you go to Urbana and get makeup.”

They walked down one wing of the store, before they entered the makeup shop and Jane went to the makeover kiosk where a lady greeted them.

“Aw, are you taking your girlfriend to get a makeover ?” the lady asked Tim.

“Uh -” he started.

“Well, don’t you worry, we’re offering small makeovers to kids for free,” she reassured. “Now you don’t have to spend your allowance on everything she wants.”

She gave a wink to Tim before he shook his head and sat on the fur covered ottoman where he waited for her to finish up with this makeover. He would’ve taken his phone out to play a game of “ Bedazzled ; Jewel Quest” or texted Annie and Cate to see what they were up to, but he felt like that would be wrong, since right now, his attention was on Jane. He waited for a good ten minutes, before she walked over to him with her hands on her hips.

“Whoa !!” he exclaimed.

Her makeup wasn’t horrendous or scary, just . . . unfamiliar. He wasn’t used to seeing his sister with a little bit of eyeliner, mascara, shimmery pink eyeshadow, and red lipstick. It was a new look for her; not a bad one, just a new one.

“I’m ready to go,” she announced.

“Figured out where you want to  go ? ” he asked.

“Nah,” she said. “Let’s just keep walking.”

“We can’t just keep walking around,” he claimed. “Then, we won’t get anything done.”

“Tim, it’s four o’clock,” she reminded. “We have two and a half hours before Nanny comes back to get us. We have a lot of time to do stuff here.” 

“Are you hungry  yet ? ” he asked.

“Not right now,” she answered. “Maybe in a few minutes we can go to Sweet Rose for ice cream.”

“Want to play some  games ? ” he asked. “We can do a few rounds of air hockey over at  Retroville , and then use the tickets to get a prize.”

“Maybe later,” she said. “Hm . . .”

“We can go to  Bookberries and see what new books they got in,” he suggested.

“Yeah, there’s this new book I’ve been waiting for to come out,” she agreed.

“Let’s go,” he said.

They left the makeup store and went a few stores down the a bookstore called ‘ Bookberries ’, where they split in different directions – Jane headed towards the Young Adult section, before Tim walked over to the kid section, where the different books aimed towards younger kids ( such as the  Barnabys and Ruth ) lined the walls, there was a mat on the floor where it mimicked the roads and buildings of a city and there was a toy chest with assorted cars and little wooden people to play on the mat with. 

He walked around the section, ignoring the confused stares of why a  twelve year old was wandering the kid section, without a younger sibling, but luckily nobody said anything to him, because that would’ve been super embarrassing. He walked to the puppet stand, and he looked through the various puppets and settled on a shiny, purple and orange dragon puppet, before he plucked it from the stand. He took it with him back to the Young Adult section before he peeked around the corner.

He watched Jane flip through a book called “Two Yearning Hearts”, and the cover was of a busty woman in a deep neckline red dress, being tango dipped by a buff, oiled up, shirtless man in dress pants and a red rose between his teeth.

Tim disregarded the book cover before he ran towards her and pressed the puppet into her neck and made kissing noises at her, which caused her to laugh and giggle before she tried to squeeze her neck away from him.

“Two Yearning Hearts ?” he asked. “That’s what you’re into ?”

“No !!” she exclaimed. “They don’t have the book I was looking for, and this was a book that Cate brought over to the house during your last sleepover, so I wanted to see why she liked it. It’s really boring.”

She flipped to an excerpt of the book before she put on her most obnoxious, pompous voice as she read out this clip of the book.

“’And Oscar dipped Luna as they danced for what seemed to be the final time, before Oscar had to go to war, overseas in New Amsterdam, quite possibly to never be seen again,’” she read. “Jeez, this is what eighth grade girls are into ?”

“Yeah, I guess they are a little boy crazy at my age,” he chuckled. “Maybe  one day, you will be too. Don’t be too quick to judge. It’s nature.”

“Ugh, pass,” Jane claimed. “Want to go to Sweet Rose’s now ?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he teased.

He put the puppet onto one of the selves before she put the book back where she found it and they linked arms again and left the bookstore. They took the escalator up to the food court and walked to Sweet Rose. They both ordered their normal orders from the ice cream parlor.

Tim ordered a regular bubblegum, birthday cake double scoop in a sugar cone with rainbow sprinkles. Jane ordered a chocolate fudge and rocky road double scoop with crushed up cookies in a waffle cone. They went and sat at one of the tables that had two chairs.

Tim looked around at all the happy couples, holding hands, slurping noodles from Bamboo Panda Takeout, and cooing sappy, sweet flirtations as they all gazed in  eachother’s eyes. He snickered at the saccharine behavior taking place around him, to the point where he didn’t even notice that Jane propped her face up on her cheek and she was smiling at him.

He focused his attention back onto Jane before he smiled at her and licked his ice cream.

“I know it’s not a Valentine’s date, or anything,” he started. “But I hope you had a great time !!”

She sighed happily as she licked her ice cream. It was the best Valentine’s Day she could’ve hoped for, especially after seeing all the middle school couples giving  eachother flowers, hand holding, passing notes, and trying to sneak kisses outside of classrooms. Now, she was at the mall with her best friend, her favorite person in the entire world, eating ice cream, with nobody else to bother them.

“I had the best time !!” she exclaimed.

“ **_ Love, you’re not alone; ‘cause I’m  _ ** **_ gonna _ ** **_ stand by you . . . _ ** ”

**_ -”Stand _ ** **__ ** **_ By _ ** **_ You”, Rachel Platten _ **


	5. Forever Young

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❇ || Early warning that this chapter involves slightly graphic childbirth, nothing anatomical is talked about, but Jane is giving birth !! 🥰🥂  
> ❇ || Also !! This one - shot is about a fun little thing people like to forget about called " ~* Platonic Co - Parenting *~ ", so full disclosure. Jane and Tim AREN'T together, rather platonic life partners that decided to have a kid out of I.V.F !! Thank you !! 🥰🥂

“ **_ We don’t have the power, but we never say never . . . _ ** ”

Tim hid the bag of chips he had snuck in from the snack bar outside the maternity ward as the crunching of the bag attracted Jane’s attention. He swallowed what was in his mouth before he smiled at her.

“Are those  chips ? ” she asked.

He was quiet before he decided to lie to her instead.

“No,” he said.

“You’re a terrible liar,” she laughed. “ _ I haven’t eaten anything in fifteen hours _ . . .”

“I promise that this’ll be over with soon,” he soothed. “You’re doing great. Doctor Csupo said that you’ll be progressing a little quicker now. Unfortunately, epidurals slow down pain signals, and they slow down the labor process, but hey – if you progress normally, we’ll have a baby by tonight.”

Last time the doctor had come to check, they said that her water would break within the hour if everything progressed the way that they all wanted it to, considering how the epidural had slowed Jane’s labor.

The only sounds in the room were the EKG monitor, and the machine hooked up to a band around Jane’s belly to monitor her contractions. They were closer together, about four minutes apart for five minutes, which was a good sign. It meant that she was actually making progress and they wouldn’t have to do an emergency c – section.

“At least we got the nursery set up before we went on the bachelor / bachelorette trip to Vegas,” he insisted. “The crib’s safe, nothing can fall on her, she won’t get tangled up in the sheets, her bookcase is organized.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine once we get back home,” she soothed. “I mean, for crying out loud, I walked in on you in the crib yourself.”

He chuckled quietly at that before he remembered how much he did to ensure that the house was the safest place that Taffeta could’ve possibly been in. He made sure every corner was softened and every electric socket was babyproofed. The doors had jams so no little fingers would get squished. The cabinets had locks so wandering hands didn’t get into anything they weren’t supposed to. Jane said he was being over dramatic, but there was no way he would let her get hurt on his watch.

“I just want everything to be perfect when she gets back,” he claimed. “That’s her home, I want it to feel like it for her, just like it does for us.”

“I’m sure it will,” Jane soothed. “We have all the baby products, and all the things she needs in order to grow – she's being born into a house and family full of a lot of love to give – ack !!”

She cringed as she leaned forward and held onto her stomach as she let out a pained hiss. Her eyes widened once she felt a pop down below and then they both heard a soft river of something wet hit the tile floor. The pain skyrocketed from slow labor pains to what felt like a chainsaw going off inside herself. Her muscles tensed as she sat up and let off a shriek.

“Hey, hey, breathe, breathe,” he soothed. “Hoo -  hoo \-  hee –  hee .”

She shook her head and held her hand out  desperately for Tim to grab onto so she could squeeze onto his hand as she rode out the contraction. She pressed her back against the hospital bed and tilted her head back.

He put his free hand on her forehead, and stroked his head back, and attempted to help her steady her breathing, before she said something that set off a few alarms in his head. Luckily, they’re in the hospital, and they were in a place that had all the supplies . . . but the doctor wasn’t in here.

“ _ Tim _ ,” she whined. “ _ I feel like I need to push. _ ”

“ Uuuuhh , do you think you can hold  it ? ” he asked.

He started to press the emergency button on the bed for the doctor to come into the room to help them He looked at the monitor, as he tracked how the contractions were going.

Jane shook her head before her shaky hands grabbed the bedframe and she pulled her legs to herself.

“Uh, shit, okay,” he managed.

Tim looked around, before he checked behind the curtains to see if anyone was on their way. He looked outside their door and looked both ways to see that nobody was in their hall at the moment, and he had no idea when their doctor would be available to help them.

He came back into the room and shut the curtain behind him, before he walked to the medical sink and washed his hands.

“ _ What  _ . . .  _ are  _ _ you  _ . . .  **_ doing  _ ** ? ” she asked, right before s he groaned again.

“Until Doctor Csupo gets here, I’ll try and help you,” he said. “How’s the pain, momma ?”

He grabbed two of the large medical gloves from the box and attempted to put them both completely onto his hands, before he realized they were a bit of a tight fit, but they had to make do with their situation. He took the stool out from under the counter with all the medical supplies.

“Okay, so you said you felt like you needed to  push ? ” he asked.

“ _ I don’t  _ . . .  _ think  _ . . . _ you should _ . . .  _ be  _ -” she panted.

“I paid attention during Lamaze !!” he defended. “So, do you need to push ?”

“I -” she started.

That’s when another heavy contraction hit and she cringed. Her leg twitched from the pain she felt, which she was told was abnormal, considering she had already taken the epidural, but she knew she couldn’t just hold Taffeta in there. It wasn’t good, and she needed to come out before her heart rate dropped or her breathing suffered.

She simply nodded and locked eyes with Tim, before he started to mimic the  things he had remembered from the Lamaze classes he had begged Jane to do with him, just in case a situation like this arose. He looked back up at her before he gave her a comforting nod.

“Okay, push,” he instructed. “One, two –” 

He paused as he heard the EKG beeps speed due to her stress. He reached a hand up before he squeezed her hand and softened his features to her, to let her know that he’s here, and that she’s going to be okay. Everything would’ve been in the end. This was just a hard part of the process, but she was strong enough to get through it.

“Momma, you got this,” he soothed. “Breathe in . . . and out. In . . . and out. I’m here. I’m here.”

He kept his hand to in hers and squeezed back every time she squeezed as a reminder that he was there for her and that she wasn’t alone in this process. He was just as nervous as she was, and quite possibly a little more due to being the one delivering their baby.

“Breathe in . . . and push,” he instructed. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten – good.”

“Hey, I’m here for you, momma,” he soothed. “You’re doing great.”

“ **_ T - Tim _ ** ,” she managed. “ **_ I - I’m  _ ** **_ scared  _ ** . . .” 

“I know,” he empathized. “Me too.”

He squeezed her hand again and managed to give her a smile, before he focused back onto the labor situation, because they couldn’t wait too long, or else that would be bad for Taffeta.

“Breathe in, and push,” he said. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight – I can see  her !! Keep going,  Jane !! Nine, ten !!”

He helped Taffeta wiggle her head out before he looked up at Jane with a smile, and she managed to smile back at him, and they both laughed quietly as they realized that this moment that they had been waiting nine months and quite possibly even longer for was finally here, and within a few minutes, their baby would be brought into this world. He gave her a comfort nod and she gave him one back, before he focused back on the labor.

“Breathe in, and . . . push,” he instructed. “One, two, three – and here come the shoulders – four, five, six, seven, eight, nine -”

And that’s when it happened.

She was out and Tim maneuvered their baby into his arms before he reached to the tray of medical supplies to grab the mucus sucker and sucked the mucus from all of Taffeta’s airways, before they both stared at  eachother with sheer glee before the tears came from both of the parents. He set Taffeta down on Jane’s chest, before their baby scrunched her face and started to cry. They both giggled at the meek baby cries, before Jane used her gown to wrap her up for the time being and started to hush her.

“Hey, hey baby, you’re okay,” she soothed. “Momma’s here.”

“She looks like you,” he soothed. “She’s beautiful . . .”

Jane held Taffeta close to her and rocked her in an attempt to calm her down from what had just happened. It must’ve been scary for her . . . the whole ‘being born’ thing. Little did Taffeta know that it was terrifying for her parents too, but it was all over now, and she was here, safe in their arms.

“Hi lima bean,” Tim soothed. “It’s your poppa.”

He reached down in an attempt to calm her himself, and soon, with the combined touch from both of her parents she was soothed, and they simply stared at her as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.

The doors to the hospital room then opened with the doctor and assistants all filing in, before Doctor Csupo tugged the curtain back and wiped her face with her arm.

“I’m so, so sorry about that, Jane,” she apologized. “Another one of our patients had a super high risk birth, I promise we’ll get your baby girl out of – oh . . .”

They all paused in their tracks to see that Taffeta was already in Jane’s arms and that the two oldest Willoughby siblings did it without them.

Tim felt a sense of pride, knowing that he did something that it took their doctor seven years of medical school to learn. Maybe he was more badass than people give him credit for . . .

“ **_ Sitting in a sand pit, life is a short trip. The music’s for the sad man . . . _ ** ”

**_ -”Forever _ ** **_ Young”, Alphaville _ **


	6. Chasing Cars

“ **_ If I lay here . . . If I just lay here . . . _ ** ”

Jane sat on the bleachers of their school auditorium / gymnasium as she watched the various middle school students of Fortuna dance on the small dance floor as various songs played from the D.J booth. She’d been asked to the dance by her lab partner, before she found out that he was doing a bet with his buddies about who could bring the lamest girl to prom. Luckily, according to his buddies, Jane wasn’t as lame as Ainsley Price, who constantly brought a unicorn lunchbox full of granola bars and canned raviolis to lunch every day, but to be brought to the Winter Formal on a  dare ? It was a great hit to  her self esteem.

At least Tim had gone with Cate and Annie, but she didn’t want him to worry about her. He was at this dance to have fun, not tend to her girlish emotions. He seemed to be having fun as he, Cate, and Annie were dancing to songs such as the “Cotton Eyed Joe” and the “Cupid Shuffle”. Jane didn’t want to get in the middle of that.

She felt goosebumps form on her back as the snickering of the most popular girl in her grade grew closer. She thought Melissa  Schafter would be the worst of it, but that was before she was put under the constant ridicule of Martina Del Campos. She thought that Melissa reading her diary at the Easter party was  embarrassing , but some of the things Martina said were downright humiliating at times.

“Aw, look, the second biggest loser of the sixth grade,” Martina mentioned. “You’re just lucky that Ainsley Price goes here, or else you’d be the biggest loser here. Nicolette D’Angelo barely speaks English and the boys like her more than you.”

“Nicolette speaks good English,” Jane defended. “Her mom was born in America anyways.”

“She’s still only been here for two months and more people know her name than yours,” Martina claimed. “But, after tonight, everyone will know yours. Jane  Willoughby; Robert Cady’s ugly date.”

Jane fought back her tears and an embarrassed blush heated to her face, because she knew that Martina was right. Tomorrow, that would be the news flooding the school’s sixth grade hallways. Robert Cady took bird – nosed beak face, Jane Willoughby, to the dance and nearly won the bet on who can bring the ugliest girl to the dance. She’d hear the whispers in the Phys. Ed. locker room as she changed into her uniform, and see the stares as they practiced in choir. She’d see the pointing fingers during passing period, and listen to the snickers in her homeroom. After the weekend was over, Jane would become a laughing stock, and she didn’t think school would get any worse for her at this point.

She watched Martina’s lips curve into a devilish smirk as she laughed and flipped her hair.

“See you Monday, Toucan Sam,” she dismissed with a shoulder turn.

Jane sighed and leaned into her hands as she watched Annie, Cate, and Tim leave the dancefloor and come to the bleachers to sit with her. They were all laughing at the fact that Cate could barely keep up with their line during the “Cotton Eyed Joe”.

“Hey Jane !!” Annie exclaimed. “We haven’t seen you dance yet !!”

She forced a fake smile and shrugged.

“I’m more of a ‘dance in the kitchen with your family’ kind of person,” she claimed.

“Do you want to go to the  cafeteria ? ” Tim offered. “Miss  Braxby and Coach Estevez are handing out cake and punch.”

“Sure,” Jane said. “Better than being in here.”

She joined Tim and his friends as they went into the school cafeteria where they went to the small snack bar set up. Tim briefly held a chat with Coach Estevez about the next game he was helping the concession stand at while Annie and Cate talked to Miss  Braxby about their partner History project. Jane simply stood next to Tim and sipped on a cup of punch, until the three eighth graders were finished, then they went and sat at one of the tables.

“I heard that some of the sixth graders were doing one of the meanest bets in the world,” Annie commented. “They were picking who they thought was one of the biggest loser girls in their grade and taking them to the dance to see who had the biggest loser.”

Jane tensed.

“Wouldn’t that just make them look bad ?” Cate questioned. “Like, you brought the biggest loser to the dance, so you are basically seen with the biggest loser.”

“That’s kind of rude,” Tim mentioned. “Like, sixth grade is when the awkward phase is happening, everyone’s a little weird in the sixth grade – no offense, Jane.”

She simply sighed and shrugged it off.

“But, really, we were all socially awkward weirdos in the sixth grade,” Tim pointed out. “People change.”

“But, don’t you think that would be embarrassing to a  girl ? ” Annie asked. “Like, all these boys tell you ‘you’re weird, and everyone else agrees ’ ? I heard it was that poor girl in the computer club that was called the lamest – Uhm . . . Ainsley Peters ?”

“Price,” Jane corrected. “Th - They pushed her into the trashcan and she went with Mister Webber to call her mom so she could get picked up early.”

She felt a singe of schadenfreude, for a moment, she was glad she wasn’t poor Ainsley, but of course, she felt bad for the girl. When she came to the dance, holding hands with Marcos Silva, she looked so excited to be there . . . that must’ve really hurt her feelings.

“Well,  that’s . . . sucky,” Tim said. “I don’t get why people have to be so mean. I’m not saying that every girl is exactly desirable, but if you don’t like someone, you don’t have to humiliate them.”

Jane leaned over and rested her head on Tim’s arm as they continued to talk about the dance, and the songs that they wanted to come on, and people they wanted to dance with  ( Apparently , Annie had a huge crush on their football team’s quarterback, Ross Reed, and she wanted to dance with him . ) . Eventually, they were finished with their food and they picked everything up to head back to the dance.

They entered the room and there was an upbeat, more modern rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” playing, while people giggled and laughed as they danced on the floor to the song, and then Annie laughed as she grabbed Cate’s hand and pulled her out to the dancefloor.

“C’mon Jane,” Tim encouraged. “Let’s go and dance together.”

Jane looked up to see Martina Del Campos dancing with Robert Cady, before she hid her face, and then Tim noticed too, before his gaze shifted down to her.

“Weren’t you supposed to be . . . ?” he started.

“Yeah,” Jane sighed. “But . . . it’s dumb.”

“Did he . . .” Tim started.

He was going to ask if Robert only took Jane inside the dance because he wanted to be part of that cruel sixth grade bet, but he knew the answer just by the way Jane looked out at the dancefloor. He had known that school had never really been her favorite, but never did he think that people had been the reason why.

“Oh . . .” he sighed. “You . . . you want to sit on the bleachers ?”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

They both went and climbed to the top row of bleachers before they sat together and looked out over the group of people out at the dancefloor, both of them realizing how generally crappy their middle school years were or are for the both of them.

Last year’s Valentine’s Day dance, Diane Attaway went with Tim, before she broke up with him for Lola  Montoya . . . but it was nice to see the girl he had a tiny middle school crush on be able to be who she truly is, and now she was dancing with said Lola  Montoya . . . good for her. That didn’t mean that every time a sappy alternative song came on the radio for a week afterwards, Tim wasn’t upset at the sad lyrics of lost love that reminded him of the glory day, where he had a girlfriend for once. It didn’t mean that Nanny’s words of ‘you’re just a kid, and you shouldn’t be worrying about girls until later’ didn’t feel patronizing . . . he had dark days too . . . but now, Jane was probably having a pretty dark day.

He put his arm around her and gave her a small hug, before she managed to hug him back, if only for a brief second.

She didn’t want him to end up infected by her overall loser -  dom , and nobody would want to be his friend because he was touched by the second biggest loser herself.

The song was over and they watched as Annie readjusted her hair and straightened her posture before she puffed out her chest and walked over to Ross Reed as the D.J announced that a slow song would be playing. She asked the tall, blonde kid if he wanted to dance . . . and he said yes.

Jane felt a nudge on her chest before she looked up at Tim, who held his hand out to her.

He gave her a soft smile and quirked an eyebrow, before he tilted his head.

“Care to dance,  m’lady ?” he asked.

She pushed his hand back as her eyebrows knitted in worry for his reputation.

“You don’t want to be seen with me,” she claimed.

“Jane, it would be an honor to be seen with you,” he soothed. “Now, let’s show those jerks what they’re missing.”

She smiled, before she followed him down the bleachers to the dancefloor, before he spun her into a twostep dance pose in his arms which caused her to laugh, as they swayed on the dancefloor to the music. The feelings of anxiousness about the following Monday faded as she was in Tim arms, because she realized that, while she was a loser to a lot of people, she wasn’t a loser to one person . . . and that was the person that really mattered in the end.

That’s when she heard another rather affirming thought. Somone behind her was whispering, she didn’t know who, but it seemed to be a person in her grade, and they weren’t concerned with her being a loser, but rather that she, Jane Willoughby, managed to dance with an eighth grader.

“ **_ Would you lie with me, and just forget the  _ ** **_ world ? _ ** ”

**_ -“ _ ** **_ Chasing Cars”, Snow Patrol _ **


	7. Budapest

“ **_ Give me one good reason why I should never make a change . . . _ ** ”

“So, she broke up with  you ? ” Jane asked. “This close to your third  anniversary ? ”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Tim answered. “Something about how, living with my sister and taking you out with us sometimes gets on her nerves – I just . . . it’s always more fun when it’s just the three of us. When it’s just me and Queen, it’s boring. We rarely ever had much to talk about . . . we didn’t have a lot in common anymore.”

“ Anymore ? ” Jane snorted.

“Don’t be an ass,” Tim sighed.

“Sorry,” Jane said. “But, look at it this way, you’re free now – you can get that cute barista’s number over at Gobi Tea, and then get someone that doesn’t have a stick up their ass.”

“I think I might just lay off of dating for awhile,” Tim claimed. “I’m not ready to get back on that saddle again, besides, I need to focus on school – Law School is no joke.”

“Law School,  wow . . .” she teased. “So, is this just going to consume your whole  life ? ”

“What do you mean ?” he asked.

“You can still date and go to school,” Jane reassured. “At least, I think you can. I wouldn’t really know.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t be taking advice from the  aro – ace,” he joked. “I guess I’m kind of sad though, I had reservations to that one place on the other side of town – Hillstone.”

“Well, you do live with another person,” Jane reminded.

“You’re right,” he claimed.

He looked between his legs to be met with two big, orange eyes and whiskers, before the figure slinked back under the safety of the couch, so Tim couldn’t drag him out from under the couch.

“Smokey, get your bowtie collar on,” he teased. “We’re going to Hillstone.”

“Tim !!” she whined. “I want to go to Hillstone !!”

“Why didn’t you say so ?” he asked. “Well, you shouldn’t go to Hillstone in your pajamas – they have a dress code there.”

“A restaurant with a dress code ?” Jane asked. “Really is a fancy place.”

“Well, it’s dinner while we watch the college’s rendition of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’,” Tim reminded. “So, it’s one of those ‘dinner and a play’  things . . . Queen never cared for the fine arts.”

“Well, if I didn’t major in Business, I’d major in the Fine Arts,” Jane noted. “But, unfortunately, you can’t do jack shit with a degree in Theatre, Music, or Art. Poor B.’s in for a rude awakening.”

“I know,” Tim agreed. “Well, it’s only going to take me about thirty minutes to get ready. You ?”

“Maybe about an hour,” Jane claimed. “I showered this morning, so all I’d have to do is my hair, makeup, and change.”

They went their separate ways in order to get ready, Jane used the bathroom as her space while Tim changed into a black and red suit  ( the jacket was the most expensive part of the outfit, costing about one hundred and fifty dollars, due to being made from  velvet ) . He turned as the bedroom door opened and Jane walked in, wearing a red dress and silver, strappy heels.

“Ready to  go ? ” she asked.

“If your feet hurt later, I’m not carrying you,” he mentioned.

She stuck her tongue out at him and scrunched her eyebrows.

They left their apartment and walked down the hallway, linked arm in arm as they passed by the sets of doors and to the elevator of their building.

“What if we see Queen there with another person ?” Jane asked.

“Won’t that be awkward,” he laughed. “ But, we have a private balcony seat, so we shouldn’t run into her there. I wanted it to be private, and intimate – been saving up for this for awhile.”

“Well, she’s missing out,” Jane claimed. “Now, I get the whole fine dining and theatre experience.”

“Try not to rack up the bill with expensive champagne,” Tim teased.

“I don’t even like to drink that much !!” Jane exclaimed.

“Just saying,” he mentioned.

Everything seemed to pass by quickly as they left their building and drove thirteen minutes over to the Hillstone theatre, the conversation was rather idle as they talked about school, their professors, if they were going to get dessert from a way less expensive place afterwards. There was a bit of car karaoke as they listened to a station that provided songs that they grew up with in middle school and high school, and of course, Jane teased Tim over his rather mediocre singing, and he reminded her that she’s the singer of the family.

They entered and Tim got the tickets from his wallet so they could enter and be escorted to their table, where they were able to see the other people that had decided to attend the play and the dinner. Tim propped his arm on the ledge as he looked at the people getting lead to their tables.

“It’s nice up here,” Jane claimed. “Queen really is missing out.”

“Glad you like it,” he said. “It’s been awhile.”

“Since  what ? ” Jane asked.

“Since it’s been just the two of us,” he  clarified . “It’s . . . nice.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” Jane agreed. “Nice to not hear her heavy sighing and nagging that I tagged along.”

“Yeah, I can agree with that,” Tim laughed. “I guess I should’ve seen it coming, though. We really hadn’t been working out for  awhile , we were drifting apart.”

“It . . . it happens, Tim,” Jane soothed. “You never know, you might find someone again someday. Queen’s not the only girl out there – I'm not saying you have to rush into anything, but . . . someday.”

“Eh, I don’t have my hopes too high,” he mentioned.

“You deserve someone that really does love you,” she insisted. “I mean it. You’d make a good husband, a great daddy – you treat me well, and you basically worshipped the ground Queen walked on. Any woman that has you as a partner is a lucky one.”

“Jane,” he chuckled. “I wouldn’t say all that.”

“That’s why I’m saying it, you dodo,” she laughed.

He shook his head before he saw a waiter come over with a red velvet cupcake, and then he groaned quietly to himself as he watched the waiter set it down in front of Jane.

“Sweet !!” she laughed. “A cupcake !!”

“I forgot I was doing something tonight -” Tim started.

It was too late. Jane unwrapped the cupcake and took a bite out of it before she pulled out something shiny and metal from the cupcake. She took the nibble of cake from the thing before she cleaned the metal object off and held it in front of herself. Her eyes widened as she caught the glittering diamond under the dim lighting of their table lamp. She was excited by the sight of it, before she connected the dots and knitted her eyebrows in sympathy.

“Hey,” she soothed, reaching her arm to touch his shoulder.

“She didn’t deserve this,” she said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I feel kind of stupid . . .” he sighed.

“Don’t feel stupid,” Jane reassured. “You were listening to your heart. This is sweet, Tim. This shows how much you cared about her. You cared a lot . . . don’t feel bad that she didn’t see it.”

“I really tried, Jane,” he insisted. “I wanted her to know that I wanted . . . I  _ loved  _ her.”

“I’m sorry that she didn’t feel the same way,” Jane apologized. “But . . . I appreciate that you took me to this. It makes me feel kind of special.”

“You are,” he laughed. “You’ve always treated me right . . . never hurt me on purpose.”

“Never wanted to,” Jane laughed. “I care about you.”

“You know, even though this isn’t how I thought tonight would go . . .” he stopped to laugh to himself a little. “I’m glad  you came here with me.”

“Thank you for taking me out of the house,” Jane said. “Sorry that I kind of took your girlfriend’s ring.”

“You can keep it if you want,” he said. “I mean, I can take it back if you don’t want it. I don’t want it to be awkward for you, since you  kinda . . . you know who it was supposed to go to.”

“No, you spent all this money on it, and it’s a beautiful ring,” Jane insisted. “I’ll wear it  everyday from now on. I couldn’t bear to let a ring like this go to waste.”

“Well, at least I know I got my money’s worth,” Tim chuckled.

She slipped it onto her finger and admired it in the light with a grin that only a woman with a shiny, new piece of jewelry would make.

“It looks good on you,” he complimented.

“Really brings out my eyes,  right ? ” she joked.

She held up her hand by her face and batted her eyelashes at him, before she continued to look at the ring that she had taken in as her own.

“Definitely,” he agreed.

She was joking, but he absolutely was not. It was a beautiful ring, and it belonged on someone beautiful like Jane. She was the one person he had turned to all these years, someone he felt like he couldn’t live without. She was like the other half of him, opposite in all the ways she should be, and alike in the ways that made them mesh well together. Now, he wasn’t a religious man, but maybe, just maybe, this was some higher power’s way of telling him that his soulmate wasn’t romantic after all.

“ **_ And baby, if you hold me, then all of this will go away . . . _ ** ”

**_ -“ _ ** **_ Budapest”, George Ezra _ **


End file.
